U.S. patent application number 09/727679 was filed with the patent office on 2001-06-14 for e-mall terminal automatically converting character string of reception e-mall, and e-mall system.
This patent application is currently assigned to NEC Corporation. Invention is credited to Iwata, Shinichiro.
Application Number | 20010003826 09/727679 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 18350814 |
Filed Date | 2001-06-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20010003826 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Iwata, Shinichiro |
June 14, 2001 |
E-mall terminal automatically converting character string of
reception e-mall, and e-mall system
Abstract
An electronic mail terminal includes a display section, a
conversion dictionary which stores sets of a character string and a
pictograph, a receiving section and a control section. The
conversion dictionary stores sets of a character string and a
pictograph. The receiving section receives an electric mail
including a sentence as a conversion object sentence in a reception
mode. The control section automatically refers to the character
string-pictograph conversion dictionary based on each of character
strings of the conversion object sentence in the reception mode to
retrieve a specific pictograph corresponding to the character
string, when the pictograph corresponding to the character string
is registered in the character string-pictograph conversion
dictionary. Then, the control section converts the character string
into the specific pictograph to produce a pictograph mixed
sentence, and controls the display section to display the
pictograph mixed sentence.
Inventors: |
Iwata, Shinichiro; (Tokyo,
JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
OSTROLENK FABER GERB & SOFFEN
1180 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS
NEW YORK
NY
100368403
|
Assignee: |
NEC Corporation
|
Family ID: |
18350814 |
Appl. No.: |
09/727679 |
Filed: |
December 1, 2000 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
709/206 ;
709/246 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 40/103 20200101;
G09G 2370/027 20130101; G06F 40/47 20200101; H04L 51/063 20130101;
G06F 40/126 20200101; H04M 1/72427 20210101; G06F 3/147 20130101;
G06F 40/12 20200101; G08B 5/226 20130101; G06F 40/151 20200101;
G09G 5/246 20130101; Y10S 707/99948 20130101; G06F 40/157 20200101;
Y10S 707/99945 20130101; G06F 40/129 20200101; G09G 5/222 20130101;
H04L 51/58 20220501; G06F 40/53 20200101; H04M 1/7243 20210101 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/206 ;
709/246 |
International
Class: |
G06F 015/16 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 1, 1999 |
JP |
342055/1999 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An electronic mail terminal comprising: a display section; a
conversion dictionary which stores sets of a character string and a
pictograph; a receiving section which receives an electric mail
including a sentence as a conversion object sentence in a reception
mode; a control section which automatically refers to said
conversion dictionary based on each of character strings of said
conversion object sentence in said reception mode to retrieve a
specific pictograph corresponding to said character string, when
said pictograph corresponding to said character string is
registered in said conversion dictionary, converts said character
string into said specific pictograph to produce a pictograph mixed
sentence, and controls said display section to display said
pictograph mixed sentence.
2. The electronic mail terminal according to claim 1, wherein when
one of said pictographs of the displayed pictograph mixed sentence
is specified, said control section refers to said conversion
dictionary based on said specified pictograph in said reception
mode to retrieve the character string corresponding to said
specified pictograph, and controls said display section to display
said retrieved character string.
3. The electronic mail terminal according to claim 2, wherein said
control section controls said display section to display said
pictograph mixed sentence and said retrieved character string at a
same time.
4. The electronic mail terminal according to claim 1, further
comprising: an input section used to input a sentence in a
transmission mode, and wherein said control section refers to said
conversion dictionary based on a specified one of character strings
of said inputted sentence in said transmission mode to retrieve a
specific pictograph corresponding to said specified character
string, when said pictograph corresponding to said specified
character string is registered in said conversion dictionary,
converts said specified character string into said specific
pictograph to produce a pictograph mixed inputted sentence, and
controls said display section to display said pictograph mixed
inputted sentence.
5. The electronic mail terminal according to claim 4, further
comprising: a transmitting section which transmits a transmission
electronic mail in said transmission mode in response to a transmit
instruction, and wherein said control section regards said
pictograph mixed inputted sentence as said transmission electric
mail and issues said transmit instruction.
6. The electronic mail terminal according to claim 5, wherein said
inputted sentence is a Kana sentence, said conversion dictionary
stores sets of a Kana character string and a Kanji character
string, and said control section refers to said conversion
dictionary based on each of specified ones of Kana character
strings of said inputted sentence in said transmission mode to
selectively convert said specified character string into a Kanji
character string to produce a Kana-Kanji converted sentence, and
regards said Kana-Kanji converted sentence as said inputted
sentence.
7. A method of displaying an electronic mail, comprising: receiving
an electric mail including a sentence as a conversion object
sentence in a reception mode; automatically converts each of
character string into a pictograph in said reception mode to
produce a pictograph mixed sentence when said pictograph
corresponding to said character string is defined: and displaying
said pictograph mixed sentence.
8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising: specifying
one of said pictographs of the displayed pictograph mixed sentence;
determining a specific character string corresponding to said
specified pictograph; and displaying said specific character
string.
9. The method according to claim 8, wherein said displaying
includes: displaying said pictograph mixed sentence and said
specific character string at a same time.
10. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: inputting
a sentence in a transmission mode; converting a specified one of
character strings of said inputted sentence a specific pictograph
corresponding to said specified character string, to produce a
pictograph mixed inputted sentence; and displaying said pictograph
mixed inputted sentence.
11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising:
transmitting said pictograph mixed inputted sentence in said
transmission mode.
12. The method according to claim 11, wherein said inputted
sentence is a Kana sentence, said method further comprises:
converting each of specified ones of Kana character strings of said
inputted sentence into Kanji characters in said transmission
mode.
13. An electronic mail relaying apparatus comprising: a conversion
dictionary which stores sets of a character string and a
pictograph; a receiving section which receives a reception electric
mail including a sentence; a transmitting section; and a control
section which automatically refers to said conversion dictionary
based on each of character strings of said sentence of said
reception electric mail to retrieve a specific pictograph
corresponding to said character string, when said pictograph
corresponding to said character string is registered in said
conversion dictionary, converts said character string into said
specific pictograph to produce said transmission electric mail, and
controls said transmitting section to transmit said transmission
electronic mail.
14. An electronic mail apparatus comprising: a conversion
dictionary which stores sets of codes of a first expression format
and codes of a second expression format, a code length of said
first expression format codes being longer than that of said second
expression format codes; an input section which inputs an electric
mail including a first sentence composed of sequences of said first
expression format codes; and a control section which automatically
refers to said conversion dictionary based on each of said
sequences of said first expression format codes of said first
sentence to retrieve a specific sequence of said second expression
format codes, and converts said sequence of said first expression
format codes into said specific sequence of said second expression
format codes to produce a converted sentence.
15. The electronic mail apparatus according to claim 14, further
comprising: an output section, and wherein said control section
controls said output section to output an electronic mail including
said converted sentence.
16. The electronic mail apparatus according to claim 15, wherein
when said input section inputs an electric mail including a second
sentence composed of said sequences of first expression format
codes and said sequences of second expression format codes, said
control section automatically refers to said conversion dictionary
based on each of said sequences of second expression format codes
of said second sentence to retrieve a specific sequence of said
first expression format codes, and converts said sequence of said
second expression format codes into said specific sequence of first
expression format codes to produce an original sentence.
17. The electronic mail apparatus according to claim 16, further
comprising a display section, and said control section controls
said display section to display said original sentence.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to an electronic mail terminal
with a character string converting function and an electronic mail
system.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Recent years, a portable phone terminal is provided for a
data transmission function in addition to a telephone function. The
transmission and reception of an electronic mail is possible
between such portable phone terminals by use of the data
transmission function of the portable phone terminal. For this
reason, in the portable phone terminal, it is generally made
possible to input not only alphanumeric characters but also
Japanese characters including Kanji characters. In this way, an
advanced function is requested for character input and character
display, while the portable phone terminal is requested to have a
small size and a light weight. Therefore, it is an important key to
create a sentence efficiently with few keys and also to display the
sentence efficiently in a small display space.
[0005] Conventionally, a method of using a pictograph called an
icon has been generally used in such a situation. For example, a
pictograph associated with a bicycle is used when the character
string of "bicycle" is to be inputted. This allows the creation of
a sentence to be made easy without change the intention of the
sentence, so that a display area can be saved. Such a technique is
disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei
6-96056) as a first conventional example which describes a sentence
creating technique using a pictograph. In the first conventional
example, it is supposed that the Japanese sentence of ("Harenara
tenisuwo siyou"; "Let's play tennis, if whether is fine" in
English) is inputted by a user and a pictograph conversion is
Instructed. In this case, morpheme analysis is carried out to
divide the Japanese sentence into the character strings of
"(hare)", "(nara)", "(tenisu)", "(wo)", and "(siyou)". Then, a
pictograph dictionary is used which stores a correspondence
relation between phonetic expression and the pictograph of the
Japanese character string. The pictograph dictionary is searched
based on the character strings to retrieve pictographs
corresponding to the character strings of "hare" and "tenisu". In
this case, if there are a plurality of pictograph candidates for a
single Japanese character string, the pictograph candidates are
displayed for the user. The user selects one of the displayed
pictograph candidates.
[0006] By the way, an electronic mail system between the portable
phone terminals has been conventionally constructed. However, in
recent years, it has become possible to connect the portable phone
terminal to the Internet based on the standard of WAP (Wireless
Application Protocol), so that an electronic mail which is sent on
the Internet can be directly received by the portable phone
terminal.
[0007] However, in the access to the Internet electronic mail by
the portable phone terminal, there are following problems.
[0008] As the first problem, visibility is not good when the
Internet electronic mail is displayed. As mentioned above, the
pictographs are used in the conventional electronic mail
transmission and reception between the portable phone terminals.
However, no countermeasure is generally taken in the Internet
electronic mail. That is, the electronic mail including pictographs
cannot be sent. Therefore, when a long Internet electronic mail is
displayed on a small display area of the portable phone terminal, a
screen switching operation is required to switch the screens.
[0009] As the second problem, the whole sentence of an electronic
mail sometimes can not be received when the long Internet
electronic mail is received by the portable phone terminal. The
reason is that the maximum electronic mail length is determined in
the portable phone terminal electronic mail system, and a part of
the electronic mail exceeding the maximum electronic mail length is
not possible to be received by the portable phone terminal.
[0010] In conjunction with the above description, a communications
system and a digital communication terminal are disclosed in
Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 10-98544). In
this reference, a control unit (22) adds an originator number or
various messages, which are inputted from a key input section (21)
to a sub-address data which should be transmitted to a terminal on
the side of reception on originating call. Also, the control unit
(22) adds a code to the head of the data to identify a
classification of the data. Next, a transmitting and receiving
section (10) and a communication control section (11) transmit the
above sub-address data to the terminal on the side of reception on
the originating call. On the other hand, in call arrival, a
reception sub address recognizing section (15) receives the
sub-address data, which is transmitted from the terminal on the
side of transmission. The control unit (22) starts up a free
character converting section (16), a fixed form sentence converting
section (17), a pictograph converting section (18), and an
originator number converting section (19) based on the code added
to the sub-address data, and decodes the received data. The decoded
data such as the originator number and the various messages are
displayed on a display section. In this way, a message notice
function and an originator number notice function can be realized
between the different kinds of communications systems.
[0011] Also, an image processing apparatus is disclosed in Japanese
Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 9-325958). In this
reference, a character string before conversion is displayed in a
display area (905) of a conversion screen, and a character string
after the conversion is displayed in a display area (906). These
character strings are displayed in units of rows character by
character. A character string of "" is specified and a pictograph
converting button (1202) is clicked. At that time, pictographs
corresponding to the string are carried to arrangement positions of
the pictographs by a hamster CH1. The pictograph CH2 corresponding
to the character string of "" before the conversion is carried out
above of the character of "". Then, the character of "" is deleted
from the screen.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide
an electronic mail terminal, in which a character string such as a
word of a sentence of an electronic mail can be automatically
converted into a pictograph.
[0013] Another object of the present invention is to provide an
electronic mail terminal, in which a character string of a sentence
of a transmission electronic mail can be automatically converted
into a pictograph, even if it is the transmission electronic mail
is created without using any pictographs.
[0014] Still another object of the present invention is to provide
an electronic mail terminal, in which a character string of a
sentence of a reception electronic mail can be automatically
converted into a pictograph.
[0015] Yet still another object of the present invention is to
provide an electronic mail terminal, in which meaning of a
pictograph can be displayed, when a character string of a sentence
of an electronic mail can be converted into the pictograph.
[0016] It is also an object of the present invention to provide an
electronic mail system, in which a character string of a sentence
of a transmission electronic mail can be automatically converted
into a pictograph, even if it is the transmission electronic mail
is created without using any pictographs.
[0017] In order to achieve an aspect of the present invention, an
electronic mail terminal includes a display section, a conversion
dictionary which stores sets of a character string and a
pictograph, a receiving section and a control section. The
conversion dictionary stores sets of a character string and a
pictograph. The receiving section receives an electric mail
including a sentence as a conversion object sentence in a reception
mode. The control section automatically refers to the conversion
dictionary based on each of character strings of the conversion
object sentence in the reception mode to retrieve a specific
pictograph corresponding to the character string, when the
pictograph corresponding to the character string is registered in
the conversion dictionary. Then, the control section converts the
character string into the specific pictograph to produce a
pictograph mixed sentence, and controls the display section to
display the pictograph mixed sentence.
[0018] Here, one of the pictographs of the displayed pictograph
mixed sentence may be specified. At this time, the control section
may refer to the conversion dictionary based on the specified
pictograph in the reception mode to retrieve the character string
corresponding to the specified pictograph, and control the display
section to display the retrieved character string. In this case,
the control section may control the display section to display the
pictograph mixed sentence and the retrieved character string at a
same time.
[0019] Also, the electronic mail terminal may further include an
input section used to input a sentence in a transmission mode. At
this time, the control section may refer to the conversion
dictionary based on a specified one of character strings of the
inputted sentence in the transmission mode to retrieve a specific
pictograph corresponding to the specified character string, when
the pictograph corresponding to the specified character string is
registered in the conversion dictionary. Then, the control section
converts the specified character string into the specific
pictograph to produce a pictograph mixed inputted sentence, and
controls the display section to display the pictograph mixed
inputted sentence. In this case, the electronic mail terminal may
further include a transmitting section which transmits a
transmission electronic mail in the transmission mode in response
to a transmit instruction. The control section regards the
pictograph mixed inputted sentence as the transmission electric
mail and issues the transmit instruction.
[0020] Also, when the inputted sentence is a Kana sentence, and the
conversion dictionary stores sets of a Kana character string and a
Kanji character string, the control section refers to the
conversion dictionary based on each of specified ones of Kana
character strings of the inputted sentence in the transmission mode
to converts the specified character string into Kanji characters to
produce a Kanji converted sentence, and regards the Kanji converted
sentence as the inputted sentence.
[0021] In another aspect of the present invention, a method of
displaying an electronic mail, is attained by receiving an electric
mail including a sentence as a conversion object sentence in a
reception mode; by automatically converts each of character string
into a pictograph in the reception mode to produce a pictograph
mixed sentence when the pictograph corresponding to the character
string is defined; and by displaying the pictograph mixed
sentence.
[0022] In this case, the method may further include: specifying one
of the pictographs of the displayed pictograph mixed sentence;
determining a specific character string corresponding to the
specified pictograph; and displaying the specific character string.
In this case, the pictograph mixed sentence and the specific
character string may be displayed at a same time.
[0023] Also, the method may further include: inputting a sentence
in a transmission mode; converting a specified one of character
strings of the inputted sentence a specific pictograph
corresponding to the specified character string, to produce a
pictograph mixed inputted sentence; and displaying the pictograph
mixed inputted sentence.
[0024] Also, the method may further include: transmitting the
pictograph mixed inputted sentence in the transmission mode.
[0025] Also, the method may be attained by converting each of
specified ones of Kana character strings of the inputted sentence
into Kanji characters in the transmission mode, when the inputted
sentence is a Kana sentence,
[0026] In order to achieve still another aspect of the present
invention, an electronic mail relaying apparatus include a
conversion dictionary, a receiving section, a transmitting section
and a control section. The conversion dictionary stores sets of a
character string and a pictograph. The receiving section receives a
reception electric mail including a sentence. The control section
automatically refers to the conversion dictionary based on each of
character strings of the sentence of the reception electric mail to
retrieve a specific pictograph corresponding to the character
string, when the pictograph corresponding to the character string
is registered in the conversion dictionary. Then the control
section converts the character string into the specific pictograph
to produce the transmission electric mail, and controls the
transmitting section to transmit the transmission electronic
mail.
[0027] In order to achieve yet still another aspect of the present
invention, an electronic mail apparatus includes a conversion
dictionary, an input section and a control section. The conversion
dictionary stores sets of codes of a first expression format and
codes of a second expression format, a code length of the first
expression format codes being longer than that of the second
expression format codes. The input section inputs an electric mail
including a first sentence composed of sequences of the first
expression format codes. The control section automatically refers
to the conversion dictionary based on each of the sequences of the
first expression format codes of the first sentence to retrieve a
specific sequence of the second expression format codes, and
converts the sequence of the first expression format codes into the
specific sequence of the second expression format codes to produce
a converted sentence.
[0028] Also, the electronic mail apparatus may further include an
output section. In this case, the control section controls the
output section to output an electronic mail including the converted
sentence.
[0029] Also, when the input section inputs an electric mail
including a second sentence composed of the sequences of first
expression format codes and the sequences of second expression
format codes, the control section automatically refers to the
conversion dictionary based on each of the sequences of second
expression format codes of the second sentence to retrieve a
specific sequence of the first expression format codes, and
converts the sequence of the second expression format codes into
the specific sequence of first expression format codes to produce
an original sentence. Also, when the electronic mail apparatus
further includes a display section, the control section may control
the display section to display the original sentence.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0030] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the hardware structure of
an electronic mail terminal according to the first embodiment of
the present invention;
[0031] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the electronic
mail terminal according to the first embodiment of the present
invention;
[0032] FIGS. 3A and 3B are a diagram showing an example of font
data and an inner structure example of a display section;
[0033] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a structure example of a
Kana-Kanji conversion dictionary;
[0034] FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an operation example at a
Kanji-Pictograph converting section;
[0035] FIG. 6 Is a flow chart showing a reception electronic mail
displaying operation example of the electronic mail control
section;
[0036] FIGS. 7A to 7C are diagrams showing a specific example of
the operation of the Kanji-Pictograph converting section;
[0037] FIGS. 8A and 8B are diagrams showing an example of a display
screen of a reception electronic mail;
[0038] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the second embodiment of the
present invention; and
[0039] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of a
pictograph converting mechanism provided for a mail server.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0040] Next, an electronic mail terminal of the present invention
will be described below in detail with reference to the attached
drawings.
[0041] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a
portable phone terminal with the electronic mail function as the
electronic mail terminal according to the first embodiment of the
present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the portable phone terminal
with the electronic mail function is composed of, as the hardware
structure, a CPU 1, a ROM 2 connected with a bus 14, a RAM 3 used
as a work area, a radio control section 4, an LCD controller 6, a
key matrix control section 8, a speech input section 11, a speech
output section 13, a radio section 5 connected with a radio control
section 4, an LCD 7 connected with an LCD controller 6, numeric
keys 9 connected with a key matrix control section 8, a microphone
10 connected with the speech input section 11, and a speaker 12
connected with the speech output section 13.
[0042] Various programs to operate the portable phone terminal, a
Kana-Kanji conversion dictionary and a font data table are stored
in the ROM 2. The CPU 1 controls each of the sections of the
portable phone terminal in accordance with the programs stored in
the ROM 2 to allow the terminal to function as the portable phone
terminal with the electronic mail function. The functional block of
the portable phone terminal realized by the hardware and the
software is shown in FIG. 2.
[0043] Referring to FIG. 2, the portable phone terminal with the
electronic mail function in this embodiment is composed of, as a
functional blocks, an input section 21, a speech input/output
section 22, a display section 23, a communication section 24, a
telephone control section 25, an electronic mail control section
26, a Kana-Kanji converting section 27, a Kanji-Pictograph
converting section 28 and a character string-pictograph conversion
table 33. It should be noted that 29 denotes a Kana-Kanji
conversion dictionary stored in the ROM 2.
[0044] The input section 21 is a functional block, which is
realized by the key matrix control section 8, the numeric keys 9
and the programs. In the input section 21, the key operated on the
numeric keys 9 is detected by the key matrix control section 8 and
the detected key operation is notified to the CPU 1 in the form of
an interrupt signal. The input section 21 is used to input various
instructions and data by the user. A switching operation of whether
the portable phone terminal is used as a portable phone or as an
electronic mail terminal can be selected, and a dial number and a
call originating instruction can be inputted when the portable
phone terminal is used as the portable phone terminal. Also,
transmission and reception instructions and a mail address and
electronic mail sentences are inputted when the portable phone
terminal is used as the electronic mail apparatus.
[0045] The speech input/output section 22 is a functional block
which is realized by the microphone 10, the speech input section
11, the speaker 12, and the speech output section 13, and is mainly
used at the time of the portable phone terminal. The speech input
section 11 contains an amplifier, which amplifies an inputted
speech signal from the microphone 10, and an analog-to-digital
converter, which converts the amplified speech signal into a
digital signal. The speech output section 13 contains a
digital-to-analog converter, which converts a digital speech signal
outputted from the CPU 1 into an analog signal, and an amplifier,
which amplifies the analog signal.
[0046] The communication section 24 is a functional block, which is
realized by the radio control section 4, the radio section 5 and
the programs, and is used at the time of communication with another
telephone using a portable phone network, and at the time of the
Internet connection. The radio control section 4 carries out the
control of communications protocols, and the radio section 5
contains a modulator, demodulator and a transmission and reception
antenna.
[0047] The display section 23 is a functional block which is
realized by the LCD controller 6, the LCD 7, a font data table (not
shown) stored in the ROM 2 and the programs, and is used for the
display of the dial number in the use as the portable phone and the
display of a reception electronic mail in the use as the electronic
mail terminal. An example of the font data and the internal
structure example of the display section 23 are shown in FIGS. 3A
and 3B.
[0048] The LCD controller 6 basically has only the function to
control the LCD 7 to display a dot on a specified position.
Therefore, font data as shown in FIG. 3A is used to display a
character. The font data is prepared as a bit pattern in which a
display required dot is "1"and a display not-required dot is
"0"when a character is expressed in a square lattice as shown in
FIG. 3A. The font data is a display bit pattern of the character
itself so that an amount of data is large. Also, the font data to
the same character are different depending on the structure of the
display section. Thus, the compatibility between the fond data is
low. Therefore, the character is managed in the form of a character
code, when the character is manipulated in a case other than the
display.
[0049] For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, the character code of
"IWA" (rock in English) is predetermined to be "8AE2". Thus, the
character code of "8AE2" can be recognized as the character of
"IWA" in any apparatuses. In case of the display of the character
on the display section 23, a display requesting source designates
the character code and the display position data to output to the
font data converting section 31. The font data converting section
31 is realized by the program, which is stored in the ROM 2. The
font data converting section 31 refers to the font data table based
on the character code to read out corresponding font data and
display position data, and outputs a display request with the font
data and the display position data to the LCD controller 6. The LCD
controller 6 controls the LCD 7 in accordance with the display
request to display the character pattern of "IWA" on the LCD 7.
Like the character of "IWA", various pictographs are managed by use
of the character codes and the font data.
[0050] The telephone control section 25 is a functional block,
which is realized by the program, and is connected with the input
section 21, the speech input/output section 22, the display section
23 and the communication section 24. The telephone control section
25 carries out the controls of general functions of the portable
phone such as the transmission control and the reception
control.
[0051] The electronic mail control section 26 is a functional
block, which is realized by the program, and is connected with the
input section 21, the display section 23, the communication section
24, the Kana-Kanji converting section 27 and the Kanji-Pictograph
converting section 28. The electronic mail control section 26
carries out the control of general functions relating to the
transmission and reception of an electronic mail.
[0052] The Kana-Kanji converting section 27 is a functional block,
which is realized by the program. The Kana-Kanji converting section
27 has a function to refer to the Kana-Kanji conversion dictionary
29 to convert Kana characters inputted from input section 21 into
kanji characters. An example of the Kana-Kanji conversion
dictionary 29 is shown in FIG. 4.
[0053] Referring to FIG. 4, the Kana-Kanji conversion dictionary 29
is mainly composed of two kinds of tables of a phonetic table 41
and a word table 42.
[0054] The phonetic table 41 stores a set of records for a
predetermined phonetic expression. One record corresponding to the
phonetic expression is composed of a set of phonetic data 41-1 and
a pointer (address) P1 to P5. The pointer points the address of a
record corresponding to the phonetic expression in the word table
42. A separator code (Sep) divides the phonetic data 41-1 and the
pointer.
[0055] The word table 42 stores a set of records for every word.
One record corresponding to a word is composed of a set of word
data 42-1 and pictograph data 42-2 corresponding to the word. A
separator code (Sep) divides into the word data 42-1 and the
pictograph data 42-1. The pictograph data 42-1 is previously
written with a code of the pictograph, when the pictograph
corresponding to the word exists, and is written with a NULL value
(shown by "-" in FIG. 4), when the corresponding pictograph does
not exist.
[0056] For example, it is supposed that the Kana character string
of "kouen" is inputted from the user through the input section 21
and the Kana-Kanji conversion is instructed. The Kana-Kanji
converting section 27 searches a phonetic table 41 for the records
having the phonetic expression of "kouen". Then, the word table is
searched based on the first pointer so that the Kanji character
string of "" ("kouen"; "park" in English) is determined as a
candidate. Thus, the Kanji character string of "" is displayed on
the display section 23 for the user. When this Kanji character
string of "" is not the candidate which the user wants, the Kanji
character string of "" ("kouen"; "lecture" in English) which is
stored in the address pointed by the second pointer P2 in response
to the operation of the user operation is displayed as the next
candidate. Hereinafter, similarly, "" ("kouen"; "support" in
English), "" ("kouen"; "performance" in English), and "" ("kouen";
"good performances" in English) are appropriately displayed, and
the user can select a desired candidate.
[0057] Also, it is supposed that the phonetic expression of "kouen"
is inputted from the user through the input section 21 and the
Kana-pictograph conversion is instructed. In this case, the records
having the phonetic expression of "kouen" are searched from the
phonetic table 41. Then, the pictograph of "" ("kouen"; "park" in
English) stored in the record of the word table 42 which is pointed
by the first pointer P1 of one of the searched records is displayed
on the display section as a candidate for the user. When this
candidate is not the candidate which the user wants, the next
candidate is displayed, as in the Kana-Kanji conversion. However,
in case of FIG. 4, only the pictograph of "" is stored in the word
table 42 as the pictograph corresponding to the phonetic expression
of "kouen". Therefore, the display of the next candidate is not
carried out. It should be noted that a plurality of pictographs
corresponding to the single phonetic expression might be displayed
at a time so that the user can selects one of the plurality of
pictographs.
[0058] By using the Kana-Kanji converting section 27 having the
above mentioned function, the user creates an electronic mail
sentence including the Kanji character strings and an electronic
mail sentence including pictographs and can transmit the electronic
mail to another portable terminal through the electronic mail
control section 26.
[0059] On the other hand, the Kanji-Pictograph converting section
28 receives the sentence of the received electronic mail from the
electronic mail control section 26. Then, the Kanji-Pictograph
converting section 28 refers to the Kana-Kanji conversion
dictionary 29 based on the word (character string) of the
electronic mail sentence, automatically substitutes a pictograph
for the word and sends the substituted sentence back to the
electronic mail control section 26. The above-mentioned Kana-Kanji
converting section 27 converts "phonetic expression" into the
pictograph but the Kanji-Pictograph converting section 28 converts
the word in the electronic mail sentence into the pictograph
directly without converting the word into the phonetic expression.
More specifically, the word table 42 of FIG. 4 is searched using
the word to be substituted of the electronic mail sentence as a key
to retrieve the pictograph. An example of the processing is shown
in FIG. 5. It should be noted that it is presupposed that an EOF
(End Of File) code is stored as the last character of the
electronic mail transferred from the electronic mail control
section 26. In other words, the EOF code is stored as the eleventh
character if the sentence is composed of the total number of
characters of "10".
[0060] Referring to FIG. 5, at first, a variable i indicative of a
character position is initialized to "1"and a variable j indicative
of a word character length is initialized to "0"(steps S1 and S2).
Subsequently, a determination is carried out to see whether or not
the word starting with the character which exists on the character
position i is registered on the word table 42 (step S3). When the
word is not registered, the character, i.e., the character at the
character position i is outputted just as it is. Also, the
character position variable i is incremented by one (step S10).
Then, when the next character is not the last character EOF (step
S9), the control flow returns to the initial procedure.
[0061] When the word starting with the character on the character
position i is registered on the word table 42, the word length j is
incremented by one (step s4). Then, a determination is carried out
to see whether the word composed of characters on the character
positions i to i+j is registered on the word table 42 (step S5).
For example, when the fourth character is "" ("ten"; "sky" or
"heaven" in English) and the fifth character is "" ("ki"; "feeling"
or "look" in English), and i is four and j is one, it is determined
whether or not the word of "" ("tenki"; "weather" in English) is
registered on the word table 42. When the word of "" is not
registered, the characters on the character positions i to i+j-1
are outputted just as it is. Also, the character variable is set to
the character position of i+j (step S11). If the next character is
not the last character EOF (step S9), the control flow returns to
the first procedure. In other words, the characters of the word
determined at the step S5 other than the last character are
outputted and the same procedure is started from the last character
once again.
[0062] Next, it is determined whether or not the above-mentioned
word is unique in the word table 42 (step S6). This means to
determine whether or not a word composed of the word of "" in the
above-mentioned example and characters following the word of "" is
registered on the word table 42. Only, if the word is not unique,
the control flow returns to the step S4, and the word length
variable j is incremented by one to repeat the same procedure once
again.
[0063] When the above-mentioned word is unique in the word table
42, it is determined whether or not the word has a pictograph in
the word table 42 (step S7). When the word has the pictograph, the
pictograph is outputted together with the character positions i and
i+j (step S8). The character positions are outputted. When the word
does not have the pictograph, the word is outputted just as it is
(step S12). When setting the character position variable is set to
i+j+1 in either case (steps S8 and S12). When the next character is
not the last character EOF (step S9), the control flow returns to
the initial procedure. In other words, the same procedure is
repeated once again from the character next to the outputted
word.
[0064] When the character of character position i is determined to
be the EOF code in the step S9, the processing is ended at the
point.
[0065] Next, the operation of the portable phone terminal with the
electronic mail function in this embodiment having the above
mentioned structure will be described. It should be noted that the
operation when the portable phone terminal is used as the portable
phone, and the operation when the portable phone terminal is used
as the electronic mail apparatus are same as those of the
conventional portable phone terminal with the electronic mail
function. Therefore, a displaying operation of a reception
electronic mail which is one feature of this embodiment will be
described in detail.
[0066] For example, it is supposed that the Internet electronic
mail is received by the communication section 24 through a portable
phone network in response to an operation of the input section 21
by the user. In this case, the electronic mail control section 26
starts a reception electronic mail displaying process as shown in
FIG. 6. First, the electronic mail sentence of the reception
electronic mail is transferred to the Kanji-Pictograph converting
section 28 to substitute pictographs for words in the electronic
mail sentence (step S21). The operation of the Kanji-Pictograph
converting section 28 in this case is already described with
reference to FIG. 5. Then, the substituted electronic mail
sentences and the position data of the word before the substitution
for every pictograph are returned to the electronic mail control
section 26. The electronic mail control section 26 transfers the
returned electronic mail sentences and the returned display
positions to the display section 23 such that the returned
electronic mail sentences are displayed on a predetermined area of
the LCD 7 (step S22).
[0067] After that, every time the pictograph in the displayed
electronic mail sentences is pointed from the user by a pointing
means such as a cursor (step S23). the electronic mail control
section 26 supplies the word before the substitution corresponding
to the pointed pictograph and the display positions of the word to
display section 23 such that the electronic mail sentences
including the word is displayed in another area of the LCD 7 (step
S24). Then, when a display end instruction is supplied from the
input section 21 (step S25), the process of FIG. 6 is ended. It
should be noted that the word before the substitution corresponding
to the pictograph is the word of the electronic mail sentences
before the substitution which is specified by the character
position data which is returned from the Kanji-Pictograph
converting section 28 at the step S8 of FIG. 5 together with the
pictograph.
[0068] Hereinafter, a specific example of the displaying method of
reception electronic mail will be described.
[0069] For example, it is supposed that the electronic mail of ""
(Kyouha haredattanode jitensyaninotte kouennhe ikimasita"; "I went
to a park on a bicycle since it was fine today" in English) is
received, as shown in FIG. 7A. When the reception electronic mail
is transferred from the electronic mail control section 26, the
Kanji-Pictograph converting section 28 refers to the word table 42
to words in the electronic mail sentence into the pictographs. FIG.
7B shows a list of words of the word table 42 which are coincident
with the words of the electronic mail sentence. The word of ""
("kyou"; "today" in English) is unique in the word table 42 but the
pictograph is not defined or registered. Therefore, the word of ""
is outputted just as it is. Subsequently, because the word of ""
("wa") is not present in the word table 42, the word of "" is
outputted just as it is. Similarly, the words of "" ("tenki") and
"" ("ga") are outputted just as they are for the same reason. The
word of "" ("hare"; "fine" in English) is uniquely present in the
word table 42, and a pictograph is defined. Therefore, the
pictograph is outputted in place of the word of "". Hereinafter, by
following the procedure of FIG. 5, three words of "" ("jitensya";
"bicycle" in English), and "" ("kouen"; "park" in English) are
converted into the pictographs, as shown in FIG. 7C.
[0070] The electronic mail control section 26 controls the display
section to display the electronic mail sentence which is converted
by the Kanji-Pictograph converting section 28, in a predetermined
display area 71 of the LCD 7, as shown in FIG. 8A. At this point of
time, a cursor 73 is located on not the pictograph but a character
portion. Therefore, "meaning:" is only displayed in a display area
72 which is provided in a lower portion of the display area 71.
[0071] Next, when the cursor 73 is moved onto the pictograph which
expresses the bicycle by the user as shown in FIG. 8B, the
electronic mail control section 26 determines the word of "" before
the conversion based on the character position data and the
reception electronic mail sentence which have been outputted from
the Kanji-Pictograph converting section 28 together with the
pictograph of the bicycle. Then, the word of "" is displayed in the
display area 72, as shown in FIG. 8B. This operation allows the
user to easily recognize the meaning of the displayed pictograph,
even if the user cannot recognize the meaning of the
pictograph.
[0072] As mentioned above, the contents of an electronic mail is
easy to understand when the electronic mail is read even if a
display area is narrow. The reason is that the words are converted
into the pictographs in case of display of the electronic mail so
that the characters in the whole sentence can be decreased.
Therefore, more data can be displayed in the narrow display
area.
[0073] Also, the original sentence can be immediately referred to
in case of pictograph display. The reason is that the original word
before the conversion can be displayed when the user moves the
cursor to the position of the pictograph in the display state of
the converted electronic mail.
[0074] Also, it is not necessary to newly prepare a correspondence
table of the word and the pictograph. The reason is that the
conversion or substitution is realized by diverting the Kana-kanji
conversion dictionary and by adding a pictograph to the word
table.
[0075] It should be noted that in this embodiment, a word of the
reception electronic mail sentence is always converted into a
pictograph and displayed, when the pictograph corresponding to the
word is registered. However, a flag may be provided in the
electronic mail control section 26 to switch an effective state and
invalid state of the pictograph converting function. In this case,
only when this flag is set by the user to make the pictograph
converting function effective, the word of the reception electronic
mail sentence is automatically converted into the pictograph and
displayed. Also, when the pictograph converting function is made
invalid, the reception electronic mail sentence is displayed just
as it is.
[0076] Also, as the word table, which stores the correspondence
relation of the word and the pictograph, the Kana-Kanji conversion
dictionary is used. However, the word table of exclusive use may be
used. In this case, it is sufficient for only the words
corresponding to the existing pictographs to be present in the word
table.
[0077] Also, the word before the substitution corresponding to the
pictograph specified by the cursor is determined from the original
electronic mail sentence and the position data obtained in the
converting process in the Kanji-Pictograph converting section 28.
However, the record of the word table 42 is searched using the
pictograph specified by the cursor as a key, to determine a word
before the conversion.
[0078] Also, in this embodiment, the present invention is applied
to the portable phone terminal with the electronic mail function.
However, the present invention is possible to widely apply to the
apparatus which has an electronic mail function.
[0079] In addition, a sentence inputted from the input section and
composed of codes of a first expression format is subjected to the
pictograph conversion to have codes of a second expression format.
Then, the sentence including the pictographs is transmitted. On the
reception end, the pictographs may be automatically returned to the
character codes of the first expression format. In this case, the
mail length to be transmitted can be shortened.
[0080] In the first embodiment, the conversion from the word into
the pictograph is carried out on the side of the terminal. However,
in the second embodiment, the conversion is carried out in a mail
server 91, which is provided in a portable phone network 90, as
shown in FIG. 9. An electronic mail destined to a portable phone
terminal 92 with the electronic mail function which is sent via the
Internet 93 is accumulated in the mail server 91. The electronic
mail which is stored in the mail server 91 is downloaded on the
portable phone terminal 92 and is displayed. Therefore, if a word
is converted into a pictograph in the mail server 91 before the
download, the converting operation shown in the flow chart of FIG.
5 on the side of portable phone terminal 92 becomes
unnecessary.
[0081] An example of the pictograph convert mechanism which is
provided for the mail server 91 is shown in FIG. 10. A file
apparatus 100 accumulates electronic mails destined to the portable
phone terminal and sent via the Internet 93. A word table 101 is
the table which stores correspondence relation of the word and the
pictograph. A Kanji-Pictograph converting section 102 refers to the
word table 101 to automatically convert words in the electronic
mail sentence which is accumulated in the file apparatus 100 into
the pictographs, in the same method as that of the Kanji-Pictograph
converting section 28 of FIG. 2. The conversion may be carried out
each time a new electronic mail is stored in the file apparatus
100. Instead, the conversion may be carried out to the electronic
mail to be downloaded immediately before the portable phone
terminal 92 downloads the electronic mail.
[0082] It should be noted that the existing portable phone 92 can
be used just as it is as the portable phone terminal with the
electronic mail function. However, the word table like the word
table 101 may be provided. Also, a function may be provided to
search the word table based on the pictograph specified by a cursor
from the user to retrieve the word corresponding to the specified
pictograph and to display the retrieved word on a display area 72,
as shown in FIG. 8. In this case, the user can recognize the
meaning of the displayed pictograph.
[0083] According to the second embodiment, the following effect is
attained in addition to the effect in the first embodiment.
[0084] First, the first effect is in that it is possible to reduce
the possibility that the whole text of the electronic mail is not
displayed. In the portable phone electronic mail system often
defines the maximum electronic mail length and the part of the
electronic mail exceeding the maximum electronic mail length cannot
be received on the side of the portable phone terminal. However,
according to the present invention, the possibility to be against
the limitation becomes low by previously converting words into
pictographs on the side of the mail server so that the number of
the characters in the sentence can be reduced.
[0085] The second effect is in that the resource load and the
processing load on the side of the portable phone terminal can be
reduced. It is not necessary to incorporate pictographs into the
word table. Also, the converting operation shown in the flow chart
of FIG. 5 is not necessary in case of electronic mail display.
[0086] The present invention is described using the embodiments.
However, the present invention is not limited only to above
embodiments and various types of additional modifications are
possible. For example, in each of the embodiments, a word is
converted into the pictograph. However, the present invention is
not limited to the conversion of the word into the pictograph. In
the present invention, an optional character string may be
converted into a pictograph. The optional character string includes
a word, an idiom composed of plurality of words, a phrase, and a
sentence. Also, the present invention may be applied to a terminal
of the English notation. In case of English, it is necessary to
newly provide a table storing correspondence relation of an English
word and a pictograph, because there is no system for Kana-Kanji
conversion. In the case of English, the conversion from the word
into the pictograph is easy because a word is separated from
another word by a space.
[0087] As described above, the following effect is attained in
accordance with the present invention.
[0088] The contents of an electronic mail is easy to understand
when the electronic mail is read even if a display area is narrow.
The reason is that the words are converted into the pictographs in
case of display of the electronic mail so that the characters in
the whole sentence can be decreased. Therefore, more data can be
displayed in the narrow display area.
[0089] The original sentence can be immediately referred to in case
of pictograph display. The reason is that the original word before
the conversion can be displayed when the user moves the cursor to
the position of the pictograph in the display state of the
converted electronic mail.
[0090] It is not necessary to newly prepare a correspondence table
of the word and the pictograph, by diverting the Kana-kanji
conversion dictionary for adding a pictograph to the word
table.
[0091] First, the first effect is in that it is possible to reduce
the possibility that the whole text of the electronic mail is not
displayed. In the portable phone electronic mail system often
defines the maximum electronic mail length and the part of the
electronic mail exceeding the maximum electronic mail length cannot
be received on the side of the portable phone terminal. However,
according to the present invention, the possibility to be against
the limitation becomes low by previously converting words into
pictographs on the side of the mail server so that the number of
the characters in the sentence can be reduced. Also, because the
converting process to the word table and the pictograph on the side
of the terminal becomes unnecessary, there is an effect which a
resource load and a processing load can be reduced on the side of
the terminal.
* * * * *